LETTER: Defeat of gun-control bill hard to fathom

Since 1970, there have been approximately 3,400 terror related deaths in America. Since 1980, more than 900,000 women, men, and children in our country have been killed with guns. In 2010 alone, there were 31,672 firearms deaths in our nation. By 2015, it is projected that the number of gun deaths in the US will surpass those in traffic accidents. Why, then, do our lawmakers, including Sens. Alexander and Corker, continue to reject logical, common-sense gun safety laws?

Before boarding an airplane, I may be slightly annoyed to remove my shoes, or that I can't carry on the 8-ounce bottle of shampoo I absentmindedly packed in my bag. But we all make these tiny accommodations willingly, hopeful that they may keep us, our families, and the strangers on board the plane with us safe. We do these things willingly and even gratefully, because we remember that 2,977 innocents were killed by terrorists 12 years ago.

I support the Constitution's Second Amendment. I simply can't fathom how background checks that might keep even one gun out of the hands of one convicted felon planning to use it in another crime or one tortured soul considering suicide can possibly be a violation of anyone's rights.

Why did our senators reject gun safety laws? Sen. Alexander claims that he voted against the Manchin-Toomey amendment because it "could easily evolve into a national gun registry." Perhaps he did not read the amendment, as it explicitly prohibits the creation of a registry, and provides that anyone who attempts to create a registry would face up to 15 years in prison. Sen. Corker says that the amendment "overly burdens a law abiding citizen's ability to exercise his or her Second Amendment rights." Perhaps I am na´ve, but submitting to a background check before buying a lethal weapon seems to be a burden we should all be willing to bear.

I am angry, dispirited, and depressed by the Senate's failure to pass even the most reasonable, low-bar legislation possible to protect one another from gun violence, in spite of support by 90 percent of Americans and the votes of a majority of the Senate. There are about 88 gun deaths in America every day. Do we really value our convenience and the fearfulness we cling to more than those lives? Do our elected officials value one more term more than one human life that might have been saved? Unfortunately, I think I know the answer.

Nancy Long

Braxton Bragg Drive

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LETTER: Defeat of gun-control bill hard to fathom

Since 1970, there have been approximately 3,400 terror related deaths in America. Since 1980, more than 900,000 women, men, and children in our country have been killed with guns. In 2010 alone,